


Kalex Week 2019 Collection

by Alsike



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Angst, Blind Date, Cheating, F/F, Kalex Week, Kalex Week 2019, Kara Danvers/Mon-El Break Up, Past Child Abuse, Pre-Supersanvers, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-08 10:14:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21474325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alsike/pseuds/Alsike
Summary: Very Short Fics.Chapter 1: Alex comes to Krypton AU -- faintly ABOChapter 2: Pre-Supersanvers AngstChapter 3: Kara marries Mon-El and instantly regrets itChapter 4: Alex and Lucy go on a blind date, both pining after others.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Lucy Lane/Alura In-Ze | Alura Zor-El
Comments: 29
Kudos: 309
Collections: Kalex Appreciation Week 2019





	1. Kandor's Moon

**Author's Note:**

> (I am 15000 words into my next RAICES fic and it does not look to be ending any time soon, but I am working on it! and the two others. Some day I will be able to end a story naturally at 5k. It is not today.)

The ski chalet was quiet in the evening. An unexpected storm had come in the Kandorian mountains, and the grand party planned for the Transit of Cythonna was cancelled. Seeing the oncoming storm, the staff had headed down the mountains, and so it was only Kara remaining at the chalet, lying out on the bearskin rug in front of the blazing fire, the snow coming down, enclosing the chalet in silence.

Well, Kara, and the girl.

People talked about the girl, bought from slavers at the port--a place Lady Zor-El was not supposed to be accustomed to venture. She had been bought a few years previously as a gift for Kara's sexual maturity, they said. But the girl was not treated like a body slave. Instead she seemed almost like a second daughter of the house, given her own chambers, dressed as well as any Zor-El, though always in the blacks of mourning.

As an offworlder, though, she could never be a citizen, and could expect no more than the kind treatment she had been given.

Many wondered if it was too kind.

Alex had not shown herself all evening, and though Kara had made it a rule to not wonder about her life nor put her nose where it was not wanted, the chalet was chilly away from the fire, and it would be an excuse to scold her for freezing herself.

But the bedrooms, the bath, and even the sauna were all empty, and Kara's feet moved faster, drumming on the planed hardwood floors as she sought her. There was a tightness in her throat that she hated herself for. It was too much like the one she'd had as a child. They had been friends once, when Alex's parents--offworlder researchers--had stayed at their manse on invitation of Lord Zor-El. Alex and Kara had poured over poetry together, the kind that made a distant world sharp and real. When Alex had been taken back off-world by her parents, the letters and tightbeam messages had grown few, then stopped coming. Kara had been sure something dreadful had happened, but the dreadful part was still years off. Alex had just forgotten her.

She found Alex in the store room, with the skis and sleighs, and breathed out in relief. Alex's raw and relentless self-hatred had not sent her out into the storm to lose herself and her life. Instead she lay across the seat of a sleigh, in the freezing room where Kara's breath made puffs of vapor in the air, no coat, no stole, just thin silk, her hair spilling across the cushion, her back just slightly arched. Her whole skin steamed in the air. Her hand roamed across her belly. At the sound of Kara's boots on the floor, she looked up, her face flushed, her eyes black--the pupil expanding to fill the whole of the iris.

"I heard your species experiences this," Kara said.

Alex was breathing heavily, sweat visible on her forehead. "Go away, I don't want you."

Kara looked away. Then she turned back. "I didn't want you either when you were brought to me. But you didn't believe me then."

Alex's mouth went hard and hooked in response.

Kara slowly ran her thumb down the line of buttons on her doublet. Alex's eyes followed them, her shoulders rising and falling with her breath. "I don't know if I believe you now." She dropped her hand and strode to the door. "But I accept your word."

" _ No." _ The word was strangled, torn from a resisting throat.

Kara couldn't help her smile, even if it was a little cruel. "I should ignore your word?"

Alex was glaring at her, dark eyes shadowed, but with the ferocity that still struck affection in Kara's chest, even if it was always at her expense these days, and never in her defense.

But how could Alex defend her on Krypton, with Kara the scion of Zor-El? It was just another reason for her fury and her despair. Helpless.

Maybe it was unfair to tease her when her body too had turned on her.

"Come here," Kara said, as gently as she could.

Stiffly, as if every muscle in her body hurt, Alex climbed down from the sleigh and moved towards her, her eyes averted. When she reached Kara, she lifted her chin. As always, Kara was mesmerized by the alien lines of her face, the sharpness of her jaw, her cheekbones, the dark fall of hair and her eyes, pupils blown into animal darkness.

Kara had touched her once, right after she had been brought back to the house. Her mother had found Kara's childhood friend, bound and beaten, and for sale. Touching her had been a mistake. But Alex, stubborn and wounded and frustrated, had bared herself and lifted her chin, and said, "this is what I was bought for, this is who I am." And Kara--hurt and furious that she would not accept that this had been a rescue through financial means, that Alex had recognized her, but hadn't shown any pleasure in the reunion, that . . . that she had forgotten Kara in the first place--Kara had had enough of Alex's framing of the situation. If she wanted to be a body slave, she was welcome to those duties.

So Kara had kissed her and held her down and rode her thigh with long slow movements. Then Alex had started to cry, but wouldn't let her stop.

It had been an unpleasant first time. Kara had had little inclination to repeat the experience.

Or, maybe, she'd simply not wanted to repeat the experience with anyone but Alex, an Alex who was willing this time, who sought her. "Let me look after you."

Slowly Alex, keeping eye-contact the whole while, looped her arms around Kara's neck, letting their weight settle there, their humid warmth all the more intense in this chill room. "What will it cost me?"

Kara bit her lip, suddenly hesitant. Alex's face was so close, her breath making Kara's cheeks go clammy where heat and chill met. "What price are you willing to pay?"

"Don't you already own all of me?"

"No."

Alex gave her a sharp, uncomfortable look. "What price would you ask?"

"Forgive me?"

A breath. Silence. Alex swallowed. "For everything?"

Kara shook her head. She didn't contest the blame. "Just for this. For whatever I do to look after you."

Alex breathed out in a shudder. She shut her eyes and slowly let her head rest on Kara's shoulder. "Fair enough."

Kara curled her chilly fingers around the overheated nape of Alex's neck. This moment stretched, ached, and Alex's embrace tightened, her body warm and softening against Kara's. "I love you."

Alex went tense.

"You promised you'd forgive me."

Alex's eyes opened, the pupils just slightly retracted, showing a line of murky green around them, her body was warm where it pressed along Kara's. "Then give me something to forgive." She pushed up, sealing her hot mouth over Kara's, and Kara clutched at her back, silk and skin shifting under her fingers and palms, and let herself be devoured.

#

People spoke about the girl. They called her the Moon of Zor-El--mercurial and often hidden. But when she emerged she drew eyes. She had suitors too, odd, for an offworlder, but she would laugh when they pressed their suits, eyes crinkled, smile wide.

Occasionally she would meet the gaze of Zor-El's scion across the crowded rooms, and they would exchange sly glances that were not smiles.

Kara Zor-El had many suitors also, and she was warm and friendly to them. But they way she kept her gaze on the offworlder ward of her house gave many of them pause. Slowly they dispersed.

And then no one was there to wonder over the figures lying entangled on the bear-skin rug, as one read aloud from a book of off-worlder poetry and the other traced lines of heat and satiety over skin.

###


	2. The Pit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Polyamory

They hadn't expected to find her there.

Alex was shouting, frustrated, confused. She'd lost the poise that filled her limbs, the confidence that the DEO was her place, these people were her people. Agents were asking her what to do, for the next command, but she had no answers, stumbling over her words, mixing up directions. She kept looking toward the medbay, seeking, waiting.

Alex was a wreck, but it was Kara who'd pulled her out. Those cages were kept for aliens awaiting sale, and on another planet, humans were just another strange species, soft and fleshy and weak. She'd been so light, and the smell had made Kara sick, and the sores on her wrists and ankles, where she'd been bound, were infected and oozing.

But when Kara had scooped her up, held her as gently and carefully as she could, the prisoner scrabbled at her shoulders, clung to her cape, looking up, wide eyed, desperate, hurt and scared, and then she'd seen Kara, she'd relaxed. "Supergirl," Maggie murmured, half awe, but only half. And then, her shoulders bending towards her like a rain-bowed stem to the earth, she rested her head on Kara's shoulder and drew a taut smile along her neck. "Miss me?"

From the medbay, a floor and six rooms away, Kara heard the all clear. She caught Alex's arm, felt the flex and jerk as she tried to draw away, and Kara didn't know if she'd clutched too hard, she couldn't know. Everything was strained and tight and cold, and even not crashing through the floor with each step was an effort.

"I'm going to get her," Kara said. "I'll take her home. You finish up here and come meet us."

Alex gave, like sturdy cardboard suddenly wet and sagging. She nodded.

Maggie was sitting crosslegged on the cot in a pair of oversized hospital scrubs. She'd been given a brusque military shower, the stinking clothing burnt, and her wounds treated. They'd sheared her hair off at her chin, the knots too felted to untangle. It made her look rough and young and different than before, or maybe it was the set of her jaw, the twitchy urgency, the way she eyed the medtechs like she was waiting until they turned their backs and she could run.

Kara didn't know what to say to her. Alex was shaken: How had she missed this? How had she not noticed? Maggie had been supposed to be her future, the tie between them solid and strong and good, and then the break-up had happened and she was gone, and Alex hadn't even noticed she'd been missing.

But for Kara seeing Maggie like this was complicated in a different way. Alex ending the engagement her had rocked Kara. The idea of Alex getting married was terrifying, but slowly, slowly she'd started to make an effort to spend more time with Maggie, to get to know her, properly, not just as someone who also loved Alex. She got to know her wry self-deprecating grins and how she liked her coffee (Americanos for preference but black was fine) and the way she straightened up around Eliza, like a kid from a poor family invited to a middle class house for a playdate and desperate to come off respectable.

She'd liked Maggie. She'd deemed her worthy, even though sometimes Kara said something a little too personal and Maggie would look at her with a gentle sort of curiosity that invited disclosure. Kara didn't talk to new people about Krypton, and it made her unsettled to feel like it was there, in the room, even though she hadn't said a word.

But she liked Maggie enough that she thought . . . maybe. One day. Maggie was going to be family. She was important and valuable. They were getting to be kind of friends.

And then, like a door slamming in Kara's face, she was gone.

It felt like a sick twist inside her, a rough hot hand, all around her internal organs. She'd felt lightheaded, her breath came short. It was like she was solarflaring, over and over again, only it never took, she never lost her powers, but it came and it came like waves on the beach. A panic attack--Maggie'd told her that. She'd said she had them too sometimes. She was having a panic attack.

Maggie was gone. Maggie was family.  _ She'd lost too much family already _ .

Alex was a wreck, silently damaged and leaning on Kara and then forcing herself away from her, keeping secrets. She'd said it was about kids, but once the engagement was gone, so was any interest in children. Instead the only thing left was her dedication to protecting Kara, a dedication that verged on self-punishment, and a new silence around her. The 'so-called' reason and then the following silence only made her feel more strange, more alien to Kara, and Kara  _ hated _ her. If Maggie were dead, it would be awful. But this felt like a death but she couldn't grieve it like one. If she grieved, it would be a betrayal of Alex, and Alex came first.

Alex came first.

But Kara hadn't had a chance to say goodbye.

Maggie looked up from her hands, where she was perched on the cot, waiting to be allowed to leave. She looked at Kara, her expression still, cool, and full of betrayal.

Kara had betrayed her. She'd left her alone, and she'd ended up in a pit.

How could she fix that?

"Hey," Kara said, a false brightness like talking to a sullen child. "Your lift's here. Beep-beep!"

Maggie face went bewildered, then angry, and she started to move. But she wasn't fast at all compared to Supergirl. Kara reached out to scoop her up.

She touched her.

When she touched her, Maggie recoiled, her short hair splashing back across her cheeks, her eyes wild and feral. "Don't you-- don't you  _ dare _ ,  _ gringa _ ."

" _ Maggie _ ."

She was sitting there, fierce and stubborn and so hurt, and Kara had had  _ enough.  _ She'd had enough of people being hurt and not being able to do anything about it. She'd had enough of losing family, and not understanding Alex, and being so confused and hurt and miserable.

"I'm going home," Maggie said. She slid off the cot and stood, stiffly and sturdily on her own two feet.

"You don't have one," Kara said. Her apartment held a small family now. Where was her stuff? "Please, just for tonight. Stay with me."

Maggie looked away.

Kara's shoulders fell. She clutched at the sides of her cape. "I missed you," she said, and something inside Maggie seemed to collapse.

#

Maggie wasn't interested in being flown anywhere, so Kara changed into civvies and waited out on the sidewalk for her to emerge. Maggie slid into the back of the taxi, hunched her shoulders and folded her hands in her lap. Kara, beside her, closed her eyes behind her glasses. She tugged uselessly on the end of her ponytail and sighed. She didn't know how to fix this.

"Look," Maggie said softly. "Just check me into a hotel, okay? You don't need to do this."

Kara shook her head.

" _ Kara _ ."

Kara shook her head again. "I don't want you out of my sight."

Maggie gave a fierce glance toward the driver. "You can see me wherever I am. You don't need me in the same room--"

"I lost track of you!" Kara snapped at her. "I lost track of you and you got put in a pit, okay? I'm not losing track of you again."

Maggie reared up against her words, wildly bright with anger. "Why the fuck do you care? Of course you lost track of me. I'm nothing to you. And you might be godlike in your powers, but you don't see the fall of every sparrow, and I am just another fucking pigeon." Her face contorted, hate filling it. "I took one stand, held firm to one thing, and I got kicked aside. I know how much I'm worth to you. So stop pretending I'm anything more than that."

"She shouldn't have done that."

Maggie went still. She laughed, hard and short. "What's this? You not taking her side? You not being so perfectly in sync that I thought you were fucking for the first month I knew you two?"

Kara looked away. She didn't want this, didn't want to admit this. "She loves me," she said, the words coming out stiff. "That doesn't mean she hasn't hurt me. It doesn't mean she doesn't fuck up. She fucks up a lot. She hurts me a lot. She hurt you."

Maggie was quiet for a moment. "It's not the same."

"I know," Kara said. But the fact that Alex  _ couldn't _ give her up didn't mean that she loved her more. It just meant they were trapped together, locked with bonds of expectations and pride and sacrifice. "This isn't about her."

Maggie shot her a look. "We had nothing pulling us together besides her."

Kara looked back, just as fierce and sharp. "That's not true."

#

At her apartment, Kara urged Maggie into a real bath, and ordered food, and when Maggie emerged, clean and sweet smelling, and dwarfed in a pair of Kara's sweats and a t-shirt, she perched crosslegged on the couch, uncomfortable, but ravenous. She devoured the tofu with broccoli in garlic sauce and the vegetable lo mein until her stomach was round with it. The TV was on, and Maggie started to droop. Her head found its way to Kara's thigh, and Kara traced her fingers through her hair. Maggie jerked away, protested her touch, but again exhaustion took her, and again Kara touched her, needed to feel her warmth under her fingertips, until her breathing went steady and she was asleep.

When Alex stumbled in, lost and confused and white with guilt, Kara shushed her. Maggie was asleep. Alex looked from her to Kara, and clutched her head with both hands, breaking gelled strands from her head. She looked helpless and without excuses.

She looked like she had after she'd finally admitted that she was the one who'd killed Aunt Astra.

Kara had forgiven her then; she'd forgive her again. That was what love was: a commitment maintained despite trespasses and sins. But that was why it was different with Maggie, why Maggie didn't need excuses and apologies. You could not mend actions with words. She just needed to sleep, and Alex, obediently, went to shower and get out of her work clothes.

#

When Maggie woke up, Kara was a spaceheater warming her from her back, keeping her close and trapped, her hair like a sweet-smelling curtain over Maggie's face. Alex was on the floor in front of the couch, curled up under a throw, soft as a child, breathing with her mouth open and snoring a little. They surrounded her. They made her sick and helpless.

It felt like she hadn't left the pit.

###


	3. Wedding Bell Blues

The resort hotel on the beach was owned by CatCo, which had been a relief to her mom, Alex knew, as Cat Grant--unpredictable as always--had supplied both the venue and rooms for all the guests. The place wasn't really to Alex's taste, but it was swank. The reception hall opened onto the beach, long sheer curtains billowing in the sea wind. Alex sipped her wine and leaned against a pillar and wondered if she'd be up early enough to go and dunk herself. She hadn't gone for a swim in the ocean for . . . fuck. Was it actually years?

"Hey, stranger."

In the moonlight, Kara looked ethereal in her soft white silks. They were draped enough like a robe to speak of Krypton, her crest delicately embroidered--white on white--on the bodice. Her shoulders and arms were on display though, so no one would complain there.

"Hey, yourself, beautiful."

Kara smiled, even ducking her head a little, as if she hadn't been fending off compliments all day.

"Where's Mr. Supergirl? Lost him already?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "He's very drunk and is crying with a few of his friends as they alternately congratulate him and mourn him. Apparently it's a Daxamite ritual. Any excuse to be drunk is a Daxamite ritual, I've found."

"No surprises there."

Kara giggled a little at Alex's dry tone. Alex eyed her suspiciously. "You sound a little tipsy yourself."

"There were a lot of toasts. And I'm still not used to alcohol actually getting me drunk."

Alex let her hand rest on Kara's back. Kara seemed to relax at the touch, blinking blue through her lashes. "Enjoy yourself. It's your wedding."

"I am. Are you?"

"It's not my wedding." Alex snorted at the thought. She drilled through girlfriends and long term plans like kleenex. When things blew up with Kelly, she'd been grateful that Lucy had offered her an opportunity to get off planet for a little while. They'd taken Imra and Kate and made a party of it. Kate, and, surprisingly, Lucy and Imra, were all open to hooking up, but Alex hadn't really been feeling it. Instead, she'd texted Kara a lot.

It wasn't the same as seeing her face. Alex contemplated said face. "You're radiant."

"Apparently a common affliction for brides."

"Eh. I think you always are."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "Is this that flirt game that your conquests always told me about. I never believed them because I know you're a Total Dork."

"Hey," Alex protested. Somehow, both her hands had grown entangled with Kara's. "I resemble that remark."

Kara let out a soft, quiet breath of laughter and gently looped her arms around Alex's shoulders. "I missed you, so much."

Alex held her back, breathing her in, wanting to be nowhere else, with no one else, embracing no one else for the rest of her life. "I did too. More than you can imagine."

Her breath came tight, her eyes welled. She was going to cry. Maybe she was a little more drunk than she'd thought too.

"Hey." Kara's arms looped around her, holding her up, so easily Alex felt like she was made of clouds. "We're okay, aren't we? We're both okay?"

Okay alone. Or at least, not together.

"I miss those days." Alex rested on her shoulder. "When I saw you every day. When I worked at your side, and then went home to curl up on your couch and watch movies, and was your go-to for advice, and was the person who could break your heart the most."

Kara laughed, but it was weak, wobbly, and she hoisted Alex up under her knees. "You're drunk. You should go to bed."

"Yeah," Alex murmured, pressing her head into the crook of Kara's neck. "Want to go swimming tomorrow? We're right on the beach."

But Kara was leaving on her honeymoon tomorrow, a chartered shuttle to Space Reno. "Of course I do."

Kara was the only one Alex would ever let carry her anywhere. She spun Alex gently, and Alex laughed and then groaned. "Stop that, you don't want me vomiting on you."

"No. No. I regret it too." Kara staggered, and then laughed. "I may have had too much to drink as well."

"Hey, you're my ride. Don't drink and fly."

"Flying--definitely not on the menu. Shall we drink and elevator?"

Alex held on to her increasingly wobbly conveyance as Kara brought her to the elevators. "Are you allowed to sneak out of your own party?" she asked.

For a moment Kara was quiet. "They won't miss me."

"You're an  _ idiot _ if you think that."

It came out more sharply than Alex had intended. When Kara looked at her, she didn't look drunk anymore. She just looked . . . tired. But not the kind of tired after a long day, the kind that came after centuries of watching human folly and knowing they would not change it.

"Sometimes I wish I could be brave like you," Kara said softly. "That I could choose to live my life in my own way, on my own terms. I'd like to go off planet with you. Adventure. Look after no one but myself. But somehow, to be good, like my parents wanted me to be good, I took on this city, I took on this . . . man. I will live my life, pretending I am always happy, pretending this is all I ever wanted. Because if I show any sign that I'm  _ ungrateful _ , they'll take their love away."

They'd entered Kara's room, not Alex's. The floor was scattered with getting ready items, scattered with the detritus of sacrifice.

Alex struggled for some way to respond, a way to fix this. If Kara was feeling trapped, she had to rescue her. That was  _ what she was for.  _ "Do you want me to get captured? Do you want me to give you an excuse? I'd-- I'd kill them all for treating you like this if that would help. You should have what you want. I want to give you what you want."

Kara shook her head. "You want me to be a hero."

And Alex suddenly couldn't bear it. " _ When  _ have I wanted you to be a hero?" The rage in her was too hot, too exhausting. "I wanted you to be safe. I wanted you to be  _ happy _ . You were the one who couldn't bear to hide yourself away. You were the one who chose it!"

"Maybe I changed my mind!"

"Fine!" Alex wanted to shake her. "That's fine! Change your mind! Come with me, when I go back. Come  _ with _ me."

"You'd want me to?"

Alex rubbed her hand through her hair and breathed out. "I changed my mind about you too."

Kara went still, lips parted just a little, strained, as if Alex could break her with a word. But Alex didn't want to break her.

"I changed my mind," Alex said softly. "I tried, so hard, to believe that I was okay when we were apart, when we were both pursuing our own lives, when we were  _ growing up _ . But I don't-- I don't believe it anymore. I changed my mind on wanting to try to live without you."

"Oh." Kara stepped back, she rubbed the back of her neck. " _ Oh. _ "

"There's a berth open on Lucy's ship."

"I-- I need to think about it."

Alex sighed. It hurt, but she knew how this would go. Kara might want to come with her, but she would remember all of the reasons why not to. She'd just gotten married. A honeymoon was a long enough time to be selfish. Off-planet she wouldn't have her powers. She wouldn't be 'worth anything.' Alex might miss her, but Alex was a grown up. She didn't  _ need _ her. 

"Okay." Alex said. "I'm going to go."

"Okay."

They embraced awkwardly at the door, a little stiff, and Alex knew she needed to say something else. If it was worth saying at any time, it was worth saying now. There would never be another time where it mattered.

But as she turned her head to speak to Kara, Kara dove in for a cheek kiss. Their lips met, awkward and off-center. The pulse that ran through Alex nearly made her knees buckle.

Kara broke away, as skittish as a wild pony faced with a bit. "I'm sorry. I--"

Alex shook her head, once, briskly, and then cupped Kara's chin. "That's actually what I was going to say. I don't think I'm ever going to love anyone else, Kara--not like I love you. When you think about coming, think about that." She pressed a kiss to Kara's mouth, this time accurately.

Kara's eyes fluttered shut, and slowly she smiled into the kiss.

Warmth shot through Alex. Her chest tightened, breath growing shorter. They kissed again--the hot inside of Kara's lower lip smearing over Alex's, a painless bite to an upper lip, a wet gasp, Kara's blown pupils. They parted for a moment. Alex tried to catch her breath. Kara licked her lips. Then, with a tug and a dizzying spin, Alex was out of her suit jacket. She scrabbled to undo the top few buttons of her shirt and then drag it off over her head while Kara reached the fastenings of her own gown, and it slipped down her chest and over her hips without hesitation.

Kara advanced. Alex stumbled back and fell onto the bed, Kara looming over her, climbing onto her and leaning down to kiss her again. Alex laughed into the kiss. It was so absurd, impossible really, that this was happening. Kara sat back, her eyes crinkled up, absurdly, undeniably happy.

She bent close to Alex and rubbed the tips of their noses together. " _ Terraop, _ " she murmured. Alex knew that much. She knew it meant 'mine.'

#

When Alex woke up, Kara was sitting up at the head of the bed, watching her, turning her wedding ring around and around on her finger. Alex felt a weight settle on her shoulders--and it wasn't just the weight of the hangover.

They'd been drunk. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. But in the light of day, Kara wasn't one to shirk her responsibilities and just leave this planet in her jetstream.

Alex cast around for a shirt to cover her dignity and pulled it on, sitting up.

"Hey," she said softly. "It's okay." She reached out and Kara fell into her arms, holding her tight, pressing her face to Alex's shoulder. "It's okay."

The resonant heat of the night echoed again in Alex's core, but it wasn't the time. She rubbed the center of Kara's back gently.

"I want to go," Kara said, her voice a ragged whisper. "I want to go."

_ Then come _ , Alex wanted to say. But it wasn't her place to cajole and beg. She wouldn't want Kara to come if she'd had to be begged.

"I just got  _ married _ ."

"Pretty good wedding night, though," Alex said. Her voice came out unexpectedly gravelly, and Kara sat back, surprised, her cheeks going pink. Then she lightly punched Alex's shoulder.

"Don't flirt."

"I can't help it. I'm naturally charming."

"The kind of charming I do  _ not _ want to explain to Mon--"

But before she could finish the sentence the door opened and the man himself stumbled in, his shirt undone, his pants rumpled, his neck covered in hickies. "I'm so sorry, Kara!" he said. "I know I slept with three bridesmaids! But I can explain!"

Kara blinked. Alex grimaced. There was too much of Mon-El on display for her taste.

"I didn't-- I didn't  _ have _ bridesmaids."

"They were from the other wedding. The one in the hotel next door."

"Oh," Kara said. "Right."

Mon-El nodded enthusiastically at this seeming comprehension. Then he looked at Alex. Then he looked at Kara again. "What happened  _ here _ ?"

Kara looked over at Alex also, then back at Mon-El, and then she got up. Naked as the day she was removed from the Matrix, she went over to the side table, picked up a sheet of paper, and smiled at Mon-El. It was, Alex realized, a marriage license.

"So there's this funny English phrase I just learned a little while ago," she said, smiling, in an unsettling way for a beautiful and naked young woman. "It is 'to take a Mulligan.' It means that if you really fuck something up, you get a second try. And I think-- I think we  _ both _ deserve a Mulligan in our lives."

"Hey," Mon-El said. "But you-- you slept with  _ her _ ?"

"Did I not hear something about three bridesmaids?"

"That's different! It's a wedding. You're supposed to sleep with bridesmaids!"

"The  _ groom  _ isn't supposed to be the one sleeping with bridesmaids!"

"I wasn't the groom for  _ that _ wedding!"

Kara heat-visioned the marriage license to a crisp. "Just go," she said, her eyes still glowing red.

Mon-El went.

"You know," Alex said. "It looks like they're renting surfboards down on the beach."

Kara turned to look at her, a pleased surprise on her face. "Oh no," she said, but she sounded happy in a way she hadn't a moment before. "You're not getting me on one of those again."

"I think I am," Alex said, grinning.

Kara grinned back at her, and didn't say no.

#

SUPERGIRL'S WEDDING DISASTER was all over the front page of every non-CatCo newspaper in the US. "Such a disappointment to know that your heroes are selfish, foolish and short-sighted," was the general message.

The CatCo ones took a bit of a different tack. "Supergirl Departs National City for a Romantic Space-Jaunt," they said. Even Alex admitted that the photos were kind of adorable. Kara could not stay attached to a surfboard to save her life. Flying did not help with this.

But a few days later, it didn't matter what the papers said. National City--Earth too--was a long way away. And they weren't heading back any time soon.

###

  
  



	4. Blind Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Lucy go on a date. The result is not what either expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was looking through my files seeking a scrapfic or an idea that would fit the Awkward Situations prompt, and I found this. 5k, complete, unposted. XDDD  
I had entirely forgotten its existence.
> 
> A few edits and here we are. It is quite suitably awkward.

_ The Date _

"So, you know Kara," Lucy said to the rather pretty, though stiff and grumpy, futch girl across the table.

"I--" The girl, Alex, she'd said her name was (what a lesbian cliche), frowned and then made a wry face. It softened her. "She's my best friend, since we were, like, fifteen."

"Oh!" Lucy was a little surprised. "You're  _ that _ Alex."

Alex's eyebrows rose. "You know of me."

"I've heard tell." Lucy grinned. "She talks about you a lot. Usually when I'm trying to get her to study."

Alex cocked her head. "You're the tutor?"

Lucy nodded.

"She's told me about you. You're a law student?"

"I finished last year. I'm about done with my internship. Lining up jobs."

Alex grimaced. "I could never do law. Bio is bad enough when you're trying to figure out what people mean. The idea that the  _ only _ important thing is figuring out what people wanted to say and there's no verifiable truth-- no way."

Lucy grinned. "But that's the best part. It doesn't matter what's true. You've just got to weave together what other people have said in a convincing way. You can make their words say whatever you want."

"Has Alura heard you say that?" Alex was laughing. "She'd kill you."

Lucy ducked her head, smiling shyly. "She tried."

#

_ The Past _

Kara had finally settled in to take a practice test, and Lucy headed downstairs to grab a soda. She'd been tutoring Kara for a few weeks, and she liked the younger girl, even if she was actively horrible at the LSATs, but she hadn't realized Kara had roommates.

There was a woman in the kitchen, a beautiful woman. She looked a little older than Lucy, and looked  _ employed _ , in her well cut black skirt-suit and heels. She was kicking them off as Lucy came in, taking off her earrings at the same time, and she looked over at Lucy, a little smoky eyeshadow from a long day over her recently reapplied mascara. Her eyes went suspicious and hard, and Lucy felt them like an arrow in her chest.

Oh no, Kara's roommate was really hot.

"Hey," Lucy had said. "I'm Kara's tutor. I was just going to--" she sidled over to the fridge and got a soda out. "--do you want one?"

The woman's gaze had relaxed when the word 'tutor' was mentioned and she smiled at the offer. "Honestly, I could use a glass of wine."

There was a bottle in the fridge and Lucy pulled it out. "May I pour you one?"

The woman grinned. "Put some ice in it. I'll join you when I get out of this straightjacket."

She disappeared down the hall and Lucy poured a glass of wine, adding ice cubes, and poured her soda into another glass with ice too. No drinking on the job. She'd felt a little fluttery--unusual for her--and was glad that Kara had at least thirty more minutes on the timed exam to go.

The woman returned in a long-sleeved black t-shirt and sweats, pulling her hair up, and glancing from the two glasses to Lucy with an incisive little smirk on her face. "Thank you."

"No problem." Lucy offered the stemware to her, and took her own, leaning casually against the counter, considering what to say next. "I like your shirt."

It had a slogan on it that read "People who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either being made."

The woman looked down at herself and laughed. "My sister thought it was funny. She got it for me when I started at the appellate court."

"Cool!" Lucy said. "I've sat in there a couple of times. Which judge do you clerk for?"

"Umm, I'm, uh-- Justice In-Ze," the woman said, looking a little hesitant.

"I've heard of her! I've never sat in on her court though. So, what made you decide on to go that route? I settled on criminal, though I have an offer for an immigration firm that I'm considering because it would drive my dad insane."

The woman sipped her wine and frowned a little. "I always wanted to be a judge. I think I felt that as I spent my entire life arguing, it would be rather a relief to tell people what to do."

Lucy watched her face for a moment. "Ah. Siblings."

The woman looked startled, and then laughed. "Yes. Siblings."

Wow, she was super incredibly pretty when she laughed. Lucy put down her glass. "I'm Lucy," she said. "I don't think I--"

The woman hesitated, then made a wry face. "Kara mentioned you. I'm . . . Alura."

Lucy made a face. "I feel like she should have mentioned you. I mean, I'm not sure why she hired me to tutor her for the LSATs, when her roommate is an appellate court clerk."

Alura's lips parted; she raised her hand as if to stop Lucy.

Lucy didn't stop. I know, I know. She's a handful. Better to pay someone out of the house."

"Um, yes." Alura leaned forward. "Look, this is a little awkward but--"

She was looking at Lucy, eyes wide, and lovely greeny-grey. Lucy found her mouth opening without her permission. "Do you want to go out sometime?"

Alura sat back, startled. "What?"

Lucy tried to backtrack. "I know it's weird and sudden and if you're not into women, that's totally cool. I just thought-- I mean, you're kind of gorgeous and--"

"Lucy."

Lucy shut up.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think there's something you've misunderstood. I'm not Kara's roommate. I'm her mother."

Lucy gaped.

"I'm also, um, not a clerk for Justice In-Ze. I am Justice In-Ze. And I'm very flattered, but it would probably be better for me not to date my daughter's tutor, no matter how charming she is."

Lucy's face was burning. She wanted to apologize, but for once her brain moved faster than her mouth. 'I'm sorry' would sound like she was rescinding the invitation because Alura was too old. That was not polite. She couldn't say 'I didn't mean it' in any way.

"Are you certain?" she brazened instead. "I mean--" her eyes flicked over Alura's black t-shirt in a way that hadn't been intended to be suggestive, but fuck. "I'd be honored."

"I think I'd still be 'your honor.'"

Lucy froze and then she snorted. "What? Was that a judge joke?"

Alura looked bashful.

Lucy gaped at her for a while. "You're a dweeb," she finally settled on.

"You're a flirt."

"You called me charming."

"You called me gorgeous."

Lucy wiggled her eyebrows. "I stand by that."

"Lucy?" Kara was in the doorway, frowning at them. "The timer rang. I'm done with the test."

#

_ The Date _

"Holy crap," Alex said. "You asked out Kara's mom?"

"What? She's so hot. I stand by that."

Alex snorted. Then she made a face and shrugged awkwardly.

"Hey! I know that look! You think she's hot too! You are a big fat hypocrite if you don't admit it."

"Fine, yes. She's hot." Alex shut her eyes and grimaced. "Please never tell Kara I said that."

Lucy grinned. "Your secret is safe with me."

"It's a little weird being around Alura for me," Alex said, looking down at her menu, and then they paused as the waiter came. Lucy hesitated. If this had been a date where she was nervous she'd have ordered salad with chicken or something boring. But she'd already told Alex all about her ill-advised crush on Kara's mom. It wasn't like she had to put on a show. And she was hungry. Jalapeño burger and cajun fries it was. Alex got a ruben and onion rings and . . . this totally wasn't a date.

"Why is it weird?"

"Well, because Kara was adopted. The mom thing is kind of new."

#

_ The Past _

Alex had not been pleased about having a new lab partner in tenth grade. But the kid, Kara Daniels had been put next to her due to alphabetical seating, and that was that. The year before she'd been in regular science, not honors, and so Alex had partnered with Peter Dart, who held up his end of the workbench. Kara was a weird kid. She was always a little dirty and wore the same shirts twice in a row. But, after working two labs with her, it was clear she was smart. Alex didn't care about clothes and stuff in a lab partner. They didn't have to be friends, they just had to be the best in the class.

And they were.

But other kids didn't like Kara, and one of the guys who had it out for her spilled an acid on her that burned a hole in her t-shirt. Alex punched him and manhandled Kara under the shower, stripped her shirt off, and pulled the cord. A gush of icy water drenched Kara and Alex by proxy.

("You took her shirt off?" Lucy asked.

Alex actually looked a little sad. "Let's say it was good I wasn't out even to myself then, or I would have never taken her shirt off and she could have gotten badly burned.")

The class was yelling with excitement at having a half-naked girl in the room, but with her shirt off, Kara had bruises on her back, and belt marks, and Alex stepped in as close behind her as she could, not caring about the jeers of her classmates. She guarded her until the acid had been flushed off, and then put her coat around Kara's shoulders. Eventually the teacher recovered from the sudden outbreak of chaos and violence and sent the boy to the principal's office, Kara to the nurse, and Alex to both--first escorting Kara and then going to the principal for her own punishment.

Kara had been silent and shaky as they walked there and Alex couldn't bear it, and pulled her into the bathroom instead. "Are you okay? Can I hug you?" And Kara started to cry, but nodded and Alex pulled her into her arms.

"It's just my shirt," Kara rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. "I only have two, and if she sees the hole, she's going to get so mad."

This was all more than Alex knew how to deal with, but she was a problem solver. She threw Kara's ruined shirt into the wastebasket and stripped off her own. "Here," she said. "Now you're back at two." She pulled her sweatshirt back on over her sports bra.

"I can't keep this."

"Sure you can. If she asks, tell her they were giving them out free. I can bring you more too. Honestly, they do give them out free a lot. You just haven't been here to get them."

Kara sagged a little, and Alex felt like she needed to catch her. She wrapped her up and Kara leaned into her, and Alex stroked her hair and let her cry.

She got two detentions for being so late to the principal's office.

But she went home and told her parents everything, and they did something, Alex wasn't sure what, and a few months later Kara moved in.

It turned out she'd been adopted as a baby to a very nice family, but they'd been killed in a car crash when she was eight, and she'd been bounced around from foster family to orphan home to foster family ever since. Her adoption records were sealed, and it was Alex who had been insatiably curious about them. Who could have given her up?

#

_ The Date _

"I just couldn't believe that anyone wouldn't want her, if they knew her." Alex shrugged. "I did some sleuthing and forged a few letters, and then Kara turned eighteen and she had the right to find out. So she did. And it turned out her birth-mom was living in the same city we were going to college in. And, well," Alex looked a little smug. "I was right. Alura was pretty awkward at first, and guilty--though really, adopting out the kid you had at sixteen is totally reasonable. Kara had just been unlucky, losing her new family like that. But she would not let Kara go. She called her and texted her and they were always going for coffee or lunch or the aquarium and it was honestly really sweet. Then Kara moved in to her house."

Alex's gaze drifted down to her placemat and she shrugged. "It meant she wouldn't live with me for junior and senior year, like we'd planned. But that was okay. It's her mom. And, well, I had a chance to figure out the gay thing without a roommate who I'd be embarrassed about bringing people home in front of."

_ Oh _ . Lucy thought. "Oh my god, this date is a disaster."

Alex looked startled. "What?"

"You are so super in love with Kara, it's giving me vicarious embarrassment."

"I am not."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "I'd say that little story you told about being a chivalrous baby dyke would be a nice and charming thing to tell on a date, except that it doesn't stop. Your life is one sacrifice after another for Kara. I mean, you're here. Don't tell me you jumped at her idea for a blind date because it might actually be what you're looking for."

Alex made a face. "Well, no. But you're here too."

"It's Kara," Lucy rolled her eyes. "You don't say no to Kara."

"So why am I the one in love with her?"

"You're really telling me you're not?"

Alex went stiff and hurt, like an automaton that had dropped back to its first operating system.

She didn't say anything.

#

_ The Past _

Lucy's older sister's term for her was 'irrepressible.' And honestly, she wasn't wrong.

"What are you working on?"

Lucy leaned over Alura's shoulder in the kitchen. Alura gave her a narrow look over her narrow black-framed glasses. "I'm not supposed to talk about in-progress cases."

"Then what's the most recent thing you've worked on that you can talk about?"

Lucy settled into the chair opposite and propped her chin on her fist in her 'attentive' posture.

\--

"My mom says you're irritating," Kara said a few sessions later. Her LSAT scores were getting near passable, but they still had a bit of work to do. (Honestly, Lucy wasn't sure why she was taking the LSATs. She'd already taken the GREs and MCATs and those scores were totally adequate to get into a top school. Lucy suspected something Oedipal going on, but she was being paid and wasn't going to tell Kara to stop paying her.)

"Yeah?" Lucy asked, trying to stop herself from sounding too interested. Irritating wasn't the ideal descriptor, 'charming' 'funny' 'irresistable' would be preferred, but Alura talking about her at all to Kara was a win.

"Very," Kara grinned. "But she sort of said it in a way that suggested she didn't mind so much? I don't know. If you were really bothering her she'd work in her office not the kitchen."

"Then I will continue."

"She's not going to write you a letter of recommendation."

Lucy snorted. "Tell her not to worry about that. I'm good with those. I could use the other thing I asked for, though, if she remembers."

Kara looked puzzled. "What?"

Lucy hesitated. "Inside joke."

\--

Kara came back a session later with a frown on her forehead. "My mom blushed when I said 'the other thing you asked for.' What was it?"

Lucy, utterly stoked, just grinned. "Ask your mom."

"She said there was no way she'd tell me, and that you needed to learn to compete at your own weight class."

"Tell her I always swing for the fences."

"Ugh. I'm not being your coded go-between."

\--

It was about two sessions later that Kara, who had been in a pensive mood, said. "How do you tell people things when they're important to you, and they might react badly?"

Lucy was a little out of her depth as an LSAT tutor here. "Um. The people or the things? Which are the important ones?"

"Both."

Lucy considered possible examples, then sighed. "I'm not the person to ask. When I came out to my dad I knew he'd yell, and I kind of wanted him to. I had my own apartment and job by then, so I did it when he was already worked up about something so that he'd yell at me. I got what I wanted. I love the 'being bisexual just means you're a whore' line. It was exactly what I was going for."

Kara looked sick.

"But my dad is an asshole. It's different if you were telling someone like-- your mom. She seems like she'd be cool." Lucy tried not to make it obvious that she knew this because she'd hit on Kara's mom and been very gently let down.

"I didn't know you were bi," Kara said, quietly and a little awkwardly.

"Ah," Lucy smiled and opened her hands. "Well, here's me, coming out to someone important. I am one of those bisexuals. Dudes are great, girls are great. I like both."

"Oh." Kara looked very serious. "Thank you for telling me. I appreciate your trust in me, and I would like you to know that I don't think of you any differently. You are still my . . . tutor."

Lucy snorted.

"And friend!"

"Did you read that phrasing off the internet somewhere?"

"I just--" Kara collapsed onto her bed. "I fucked up. My best friend ever came out to me, and like, she sort of assumed that I knew. All of those girls she'd been hanging out with, they were her girlfriends. I didn't know that! And she just was like, yeah, I'm a lesbian, and I was just-- floored. She's so pretty, you have no idea. And kind, and protective, and I didn't know this important thing about her. And when she said it, I just-- I felt so sick. Like I--" Kara's shoulders dropped. "I don't know. I just gaped at her, and then was like, 'I-- I can't' and fled, and she must think I was disgusted. And I don't know what to do. I can't even text her, because what do I say?"

Lucy had her hackles up in the way she often did when someone was walking the line of being an enemy--that was how it was when someone said something homophobic or racist: they became an enemy. You could still be friendly, but they'd never be your friend. "What did you feel when I came out to you?"

Kara stared at her for a moment. "Depressed," she said. "You're-- you're so pretty. And--" Her eyes went wide. "Oh! Do you have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend?"

Lucy was a little bewildered by this zig-zag line of questioning. "What? Um, not at the moment."

Kara set her jaw. "Good to know."

"Why?"

Kara waved the question away. "It doesn't matter what I feel. Isn't that the point. I love you, and I love Alex, I'm not going to think differently just because neither of you even bothered to tell me."

"It shouldn't be that big a deal. I mean, do you have a sexuality-disclosure clause in your friendship contract?" Lucy was a little worried by the 'I love you' because coming after 'you are still my tutor' it was a little whiplashy. Also, she still was Kara's tutor. "If it doesn't have anything to do with you, there's no real obligation to tell you."

Kara's mouth sealed. She looked away. "Right," she said. "It has nothing to do with me."

Lucy noted how terribly sad those words had been.

#

_ The Date _

"She told you about that?" Alex sounded sad. "Man, that was the worst three hours of my life. I was so sure she knew. And then she looked so sick and hurt and fled, and I was sure that she was thinking I perved on her all through high school, or was some kind of abomination. I thought she'd never talk to me again, and I was like . . ." Alex shook her head. "I was bargaining with God, stupid things like, 'I'll go to conversion therapy, if she'll just speak to me again.'"

Lucy stared at her. "That is next-level fucked up."

"I just . . . I didn't want to lose her. Even if she hated me, losing her would have been worse than anything."

Lucy kept the 'you're pathetic' to herself. It was only pathetic because she'd had that same sort of reaction to getting hurt by people in the past. She hoped she'd grown out of it. "Did you think that she might have been upset because you'd been doing the gay with a ton of girls that weren't her?"

Alex went still. "Kara's straight."

"Kara has never had a boyfriend."

"She's never had a girlfriend either."

"No. She's had you."

"She's not into me."

Lucy crossed her arms and smiled, baring her teeth. "You want to test that theory?"

Alex looked away, stiff and very uncomfortable. "...no."

#

_ The Next Day _

"Hey, Alura? Can I talk to you about Kara for a bit?"

Lucy had slipped into the kitchen, finding it empty, and then trekked down the hall to the bathroom, where the door was open, releasing steam into the hall. Alura was inside, fresh out of the shower, tying up her wet hair into a braid and pinning it to her head. She was in low-hanging sweatpants and another soft-looking long-sleeved shirt. Lucy let herself take it in, careful not to show any reaction on her face.

Alura looked startled and then thoughtful. "Of course," she said.

"I kind of want to talk about why she's taking the LSATs at all. I mean, you're a Judge, and being like Mom is always a thing. But she's always been a science kid, right?"

Alura led the way out of the bathroom and into her office, ushering Lucy to sit on the sofa. "Yes. I was pretty certain she was going to go to medical school, or do graduate-level lab research of some kind. Law school was a surprise."

Lucy hesitated. "Does it have anything to do with Alex?"

Alura leaned forward, an expression that suggested Lucy had the scent of one of her pet theories and she was interested in the evidence. "What do you mean?"

"They're really close, right? But Kara moved in with you instead of Alex, and now she's pursuing something when she might rather be doing something with Alex. Does she think she's not good enough to keep up with Alex? Or that they're too close?" Lucy paused for a moment. "Or is she trying to protect herself, for when Alex gets a real girlfriend and leaves her behind?"

"Ah," Alura nodded at the third option. "What makes you wonder that?"

"I don't think she'd ever admit it. But the way she reacted to Alex coming out? That wasn't a 'my best friend's gay and I don't know how to think about her banging girls' reaction. That was a 'my best friend's gay, and I don't understand why she isn't banging me' reaction."

Alura pursed her lips. "I hope you don't use that kind of phrasing in court."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "No. My smooth rap is only for people I like."

"I assumed they were together for the first six months I knew Kara. Alex was always there, holding her hand, giving her support, being on her side. And they lived together. I wondered if Kara had also thought they were quietly together too."

"And now she's setting me and Alex up on blind dates."

The sharp reaction Alura gave that, almost a what, but quickly restrained, made Lucy smile.

"Alex is cute. But she's a little young for me." Really, once you were out of undergrad, undergrads were so young.

Alura's mouth pinched.

"Also she's so gone for Kara it isn't even funny."

"They need to talk."

"I agree. Would you like to hear my plan to get them to?"

\--

"That's a terrible plan," said Alura.

Lucy laughed. "I know. But like, they could just have a conversation. The fact that we need a plan at all is kinda dumb. And don't judge me. I don't see you saving the day."

"I'm not sure it counts as 'saving the day' as getting my daughter to date her friend."

"Maybe, maybe not, but you'd definitely make my day a lot better if you decided to date me."

Alura went silent for a moment. She looked away, a pinched tension in her mouth. She looked tired. "Lucy."

Lucy swallowed. She didn't want to make her tired. That was the last thing she wanted. But Alex and Kara made it clear that the main problem with people was communication. "No. Just . . . tell me straight out. If you aren't interested, you aren't. But, I am not actually young enough to be your daughter. Your daughter is barely young enough to be your daughter, and I am six years older than that. If you're straight, you're straight. If you're not into me like that, you're not into me like that. But don't want to have to guess whether this is something I should push or something I should tuck my tail in and go home from."

"That's fair," Alura said. "I like you, in spite of your . . . everything. But I have just regained trust with my daughter, and she is already shaken up about Alex, and I don't want to damage our relationship. Me dating you just isn't something she needs right now."

Lucy nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you for telling me."

Alura gave her a contemplative look and a half smile, as if Lucy had done something she respected.

#

It was indeed a terrible plan. But everyone was on board. Well, Alex was definitely not on board, but Lucy hadn't told Alex the plan. She'd just gotten Alex to agree to pretend that they were still going out. It would make Kara happy, she said, to know that her blind date set-up worked. So they played it up, holding hands, smiling at each other soppily. Weirdly, Alex had become a friend, but she was not the kind of friend Lucy would date in a thousand years, so this was acting.

Also, the pained smiles that Kara gave them both just made Lucy more and more certain she was on the right track here.

Alura was in charge of getting Kara into the right place at the right time. And then it was showtime.

"Alex." Lucy clasped both her hands between her own. "I really care for you, and I think we could have something. But I just can't do this anymore."

"What?" Alex looked honestly bewildered, probably by the nonsense in the first two sentences. "Why not?"

"Because every time I see Kara, I can see how much this is hurting her. She loves you. And if you want her, you deserve a chance to find happiness with her."

"Lucy," Alex's voice was choked off enough with anger that she almost sounded tragic. Perfect.

"So I'm just telling you, I am making the heroic sacrifice here, and I am going to give you up."

"No!" Before Alex could respond, Kara had shoved through the door and stumbled in. "No, please don't."

Alex looked stricken, but Lucy just waited.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been able to hide it better. I am in love with you Alex, but Lucy, I would never stand in the way of your happiness. Never. Please have Alex. I-- I'll be fine." She sniffed, her eyes sparkling and belying her words.

Alex gaped. "You love me?"

Lucy had thought they'd been over this. But she supposed nothing was like hearing it from the horse's mouth.

Kara nodded. "I do. But I realize that you don't feel the same, and I would never ask you to give up anything you cared about to spare my feelings."

"But I do."

Kara paused, seeming confused.

"I do feel the same." Alex pushed her hair awkwardly back. "I've been in love with you since tenth grade. I didn't know what that meant for a long time, and then I assumed that you would never love me back because you're not interested in women."

"I don't-- I don't know if I am or not. I just know that the only person I've ever wanted to be with is you, but, but if you can be with Lucy, maybe you should. I'm not-- I'm not normal or experienced and I'll always be your friend, but you deserve someone so much better--"

"Shut up," Alex said, as fiercely as possible. "Lucy doesn't get a say, we're not actually dating, and there is no one better than you."

"You're not . . . dating?" Kara looked between them, astonished.

Lucy shook her head. "We went on one date. I figured out that Alex was into you. I've been trying to get her to tell you ever since. But she was too scared."

Kara blinked away tears, looking back at Alex. "I was too scared too."

"Hey, hey," Alex stepped into her, putting her hands on her shoulders. "You should know you can tell me anything."

"Well, you should know that too." And they were hugging, like a bunch of nerds, and then speaking, and then being very serious, and Lucy figured they were probably working themselves up to kissing, so she sidled out of the room.

Alura was in the kitchen and poured her a glass of wine. "I really didn't think that was going to work."

Lucy took it and shook her head. "There's only so much purposeful ignorance that kind of stupidity can take. Better to have it shatter when it wouldn't actually hurt anyone."

"That was thoughtful of you."

"I'm a very thoughtful person." Lucy grinned.

Alura gave her a narrow and skeptical, but amused, look.

"Not to push but . . . Kara did say she'd 'never stand in the way of my happiness,' and, I know everyone was being overdramatic, but it is something to think about, isn't it?"

Alura watched her for a moment and then nodded. "I'll talk to her. Can I . . . reserve your Saturday evening, if it goes well?"

The words were astonishing, and Lucy gaped. She hadn't really thought that Alura would ever say yes. She nodded. "Um, of course."

"Good," and Alura squeezed her shoulder as she left the kitchen, that simple touch utterly overwhelming.

#

Once Alex and Kara were together, it was like they'd always been together. They held hands absently, and when sitting on the couch, almost without trying, Alex would end up in Kara's lap, they'd kiss hello and goodbye, utterly unselfconsciously, and if Lucy hadn't been the one privy to Kara's incoherent after-sex texts (it was just: !!!!, and I never thought it would actually be like that, and then all morning in the sunshine . . .) she would have assumed they were fucking all along. (As it was, she was pretty sure they were just doing naked cuddling with a little making out, but Alex still looked starstruck and Kara was thrilled enough that Lucy didn't point out that by her standards that would probably still be third base. If that was their jam, she wished them well.)

Alura knew how to take a girl on a date. She'd looked unutterably smoking hot, and took Lucy to a speakeasy-style nightclub, very off-the-beaten-path, and they had argued the whole time, and then they hadn't even gone home, because there was dancing and then private curtained alcoves in the back, and Alura had pinned her to the wall and kissed her and somehow managed to get her underwear off without even trying.

It was still a little amusing to see Kara's face whenever she came down to the kitchen in the mornings and found Lucy making pancakes. But eventually it just turned into Lucy and Alex trash-talking each other with Kara eating all the pancakes and Alura drinking coffee like it was going out of style.

Things were good.

Of course, Kara fired her as a tutor--partly because she was dating her mom, but mostly because she'd decided to go to grad school for Astrophysics, and everyone was relieved that she no longer had to take the LSATs.

###


End file.
